Mary's Pop-In, a longtime Route 1 landmark, was demolished July 31.

With the Edgecomb property vacant, the Maine Department of Transportation will be taking a “fresh look” at options for the intersection of Route 1 and Route 27, DOT Engineer Gerry Audibert said.

The state is considering the property for a project to improve safety at the intersection. The idea dates back several years, but a design was never completed for it.

The intersection is classified as a “high-crash location,” defined as having at least eight accidents in a three-year period and having a higher crash rate than similar locations across the state.

The possibility of a DOT project there was the talk of the Edgecomb Board of Selectmen's July 30 meeting. Selectman Stuart Smith said the contractor told him the DOT was going to put a flyover in.

Audibert said in an interview following the meeting that a few projects are being considered, including a flyover, but a flyover is unlikely to be chosen.

The state would not need the Edgecomb Planning Board's approval for a project at the intersection, selectmen said.

Audibert said if approval was not needed, the state would still keep the town informed and even hold public meetings before proceeding. “We wouldn't go that far with it without telling them,” Audibert said of town officials. “We would certainly keep them involved.”

Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter, who lives near the Mary's Pop-In site,   was concerned about the potential ramifications of a new roadway. As the fire chief, he would like to have fewer motor vehicle accidents to respond to on Route 1. But as a homeowner in that area, he said a possible new road presents some issues for him.

For one, if the DOT had to take a corner of his property for the project, that would make it a less suitable place to be raising his children, he said.

Even the possibility of a project puts him back into the state of uncertainty he and many other property owners in Edgecomb and Wiscasset lived with for years, until the DOT abandoned plans for a Midcoast bypass, Potter said.

He thought when the bypass plans ended, he could stop worrying about the future of his property. “I'm a little disturbed, because my property is probably affected by this,” he said of a flyover. “It's just a little alarming.”

Although the flyover is unlikely to happen, if it did it “probably” would require some takings of properties or parts of properties, Audibert said.

The DOT bought the Mary's Pop-In property several years ago, after the elderly couple who owned it said the unresolved matter of the bypass was creating a hardship for them, Audibert said.

Smith has been involved in talks with Audibert and other DOT officials for years about Edgecomb's traffic issues. After speaking with Audibert July 31, the day after the selectmen's meeting, Smith said he was happy for potentially affected homeowners that a flyover now looks unlikely. But he still feels something should be done to improve safety at the Route 1/Route 27 intersection, as well as the Eddy Road/Route 1 intersection.

“If the flyover is coming off the table, I'm interested to see what they think is a better solution,” Smith said. “I'm all for anything that improves the intersection... It's dangerous.”